So long as you’re content identifying all the 80s trivia and revelling in the digital carnival that is Ready Player One, you’ll find yourself quite pleased. If you’re out for depth though, well, this isn’t it. Not unless we’re talking of depth of pop culture knowledge that you can brag about. Oh, did I tell you? I also recognised Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet.

We invented the movies, and through them, we travelled to worlds both familiar and unknown. We escaped. It’s what we do best. And Steven Spielberg knows where to take you.

Spielberg’s love song is a thumping joyride…

Ultimately, the film represents a full circle for postmodernism, in that a love letter to the 1980s has been directed by an icon of the 1980s. For some, the nostalgia hit from watching Spielberg cobble together some interesting set-pieces – the aforementioned horror-movie one being an easy highlight – and present a visual feast from start to finish peppered with an endless array of pop culture references will simply be enough.

Not once does Spielberg’s passion for creating spectacular cinematic movie-going experience, overshadow his story’s underlying message – technology can never replace human emotions. It cleverly drives home the point that one must face reality, no matter how grim and unappealing it may seem when compared to the magical virtual world, as ‘that’s the only thing that’s real’. Buckle up and set off on this absolutely thrilling ride.

Ready Player One is, for the lack of a better term, the sum total of the era we currently exist in and have grown up on. It is a masterful film, not only for those who are masters of pop culture but also for those who only skim the surface. This is Steven Spielberg at his greatest, most magical, uncompromising and most effective, barring none.

Steven Spielberg’s take of Ernest Cline’s pop-culture sci-fi novel Ready Player One is a bagful of geeky tricks with a treasure trove of pop-culture references in a derivative plot

Steven Spielberg’s film is a fun action adventure filled with pop culture references…

Overall, while the film is good in all respects, it is still not the Spielberg film one pines for.

While Ready Player One will probably never be called a Spielberg classic, watch this movie for the classic feeling that only Spielberg can provide: the simple joy of being swept away at the movies.